The Capriciousness Of Mother Nature

February 25, 1986|The Morning Call

From the "it's-an-ill-wind-that-blows-no-good" department, comes this word from soggy California: The storms that drenched thousands of acres and drove tens of thousands of people from their homes last week actually have a bright spot.

The powerful runoff water, result of a 10-20 inches of rain over an eight- day period, may have created a new, albeit smaller, version of the 19th- century Gold Rush, according to news reports from the stricken area. Those waters, cascading down hills in the vicinity of the famed Mother Lode of gold, broke off pieces of gold-bearing quartz and washed the new riches into area creeks.